Tyson might be old for a boxer, but time hasn’t eroded his star power one bit. Even though Tyson’s last professional fight took place in 2005, he remains one of the biggest names on the planet, not just heaviest weight division in boxing sports.
While attending the Miss Black America contest, Tyson met 18-year-old Desiree Washington. On July 19, 1991, Tyson took her back to his hotel room and allegedly raped the young pageant contestant. He was tried and convicted of rape and, in March of 1992, Tyson was sentenced to six years in prison. He spent three years of his six-year sentence in jail. Word leaked out that Tyson was a different man after spending time behind bars. He was said to be reading communist literature and Malcolm X, and had even converted to Islam.
There was a doctored image recently that went viral showing Paul with a tattoo above his right ear that was similar to Tyson’s famous tattoo on the left side of his face. The photo was fake and made to help promote the fight, but Paul may want a real one now.
Tyson also revealed that he is no longer vegan, stating, «I was a vegan for four years but not anymore. I eat chicken every now and then. I should be a vegan. at all, no way! I would be very sick if I ate red meat. That’s probably why I was so crazy before.»
Though the Lewis match clearly showed Tyson to be past his prime, his reputation and ability to draw fans continue to draw fight promoters looking to cash in on the spectacle of a Tyson match. Late in 2003, speculation swirled that he might fight champion Roy Jones, perhaps in Eastern Europe or Russia. The bigger fight facing Tyson seemed to be in the courtroom, where he tried to fend off his many creditors. Despite earning approximately $20 million from the Lewis fight, Tyson filed for bankruptcy in 2003.
#miketysontattoo #miketysonpunchout #inkfusiontattoo #tattoo #tattoos #handtattoo #tattooartist #tattooart #tattoomachine #tattooshop #miketyson #nintendotattoo #tattooideas #tattooer #tattooing #tattooist #miketysonpodcast
Eric Raskin is a veteran boxing journalist with more than 25 years of experience covering the sport for such outlets as BoxingScene, ESPN, Grantland, Playboy, Ringside Seat, and The Ring (where he served as managing editor for seven years). He also co-hosted The HBO Boxing Podcast, Showtime Boxing with Raskin & Mulvaney, The Interim Champion Boxing Podcast with Raskin & Mulvaney, and Ring Theory. He has won three first-place writing awards from the BWAA, for his work with The Ring, Grantland, and HBO. Outside boxing, he is the senior editor of CasinoReports and the author of 2014’s The Moneymaker Effect. He can be reached on X or LinkedIn, or via email at RaskinBoxing@yahoo.com.
Tyson participated in an eight-round exhibition bout with Roy Jones Jr. in July 2020, and while the fight exceeded expectations, no one was clamoring for more. During the height of his career, Tyson was one of the most feared fighters in boxing and earned the moniker as the «Baddest Man on the Planet.» He was the undisputed heavyweight champion and still owns the distinction of being the youngest boxer ever to win a heavyweight title. After serving less than three years in jail for a rape conviction between 1992 and 1995, Tyson returned to the ring just five months later and, after two wins, regained the WBC title by defeating Frank Bruno in 1996.
With this standard 12-round system in mind, a normal professional boxing match will typically take up about 47 minutes. This average is made up of around 36 minutes of fighting and 11 minutes of rest, as there is no break after the last round.
In 1997, Tyson infamously bit a part of Evander Holyfield’s ear off during a fight. The move cost Tyson both the fight and his boxing license, though he was later reinstated. It was one of the most bizarre moments in boxing history, and one Tyson would be remembered for the rest of his career.
In 2000 Tyson dismissed everyone who was working for him and enlisted new accountants, who prepared a statement showing he started the year $3.3 million in debt but earned $65.7 million. In August 2007, Tyson pleaded guilty to drug possession and driving under the influence in an Arizona court, which stemmed from an arrest in December where authorities said Tyson, who has a long history of legal contentions, admitted to using cocaine that day and to being addicted to the drug.
«I thought Zhilei went in with the wrong strategy and mind frame,» said George, who watched the Games back home in New Jersey. «Zhilei listens to whatever his coaches tell him to do. So he went in there looking for the KO.»
Alan Dershowitz, acting as Tyson’s counsel, filed an appeal urging error of law in the Court’s exclusion of evidence of the victim’s past sexual conduct (known as the Rape Shield Law; Dershowtiz alleged that Washington had «falsely accused one of her high school classmates of rape»), the exclusion of three potential defense witnesses, and the lack of jury instructions on honest and reasonable mistake of fact. The Indiana Court of Appeals ruled against Tyson in a 2–1 vote. The Indiana Supreme Court let the lower court opinion stand due to a 2–2 split in its review. The tie vote was due to the fact that the Chief Justice, Randall T. Shepard, recused himself from the case. The Chief Justice later revealed he did so because of a heated argument between his wife and Dershowitz at a Yale Law School reunion concerning the case. On March 26, 1992, Tyson was sentenced to six years in prison along with four years of probation. He was assigned to the Indiana Youth Center (now the Plainfield Correctional Facility) in April 1992, and he was released in March 1995 after serving less than three years of the sentence. He left with prison tattoos of tennis player Arthur Ashe and Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong; Tyson also dates his tattoo of Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara to this time.